Congratulations AD-SDI community!!!

Late last month, Abu Dhabi was honoured as the inaugural recipient of Esri’s Smart Government award at the annual Esri User Conference held in San Diego, California.

The Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC) was chosen for the award for its efforts in implementing the Abu Dhabi – Spatial Data Infrastructure (AD-SDI) and use of geospatial information across a wide range of government entities in the emirate. The AD-SDI initiative was first launched in 2007, and today includes more than 70 government and quasi-government agencies sharing nearly 800 layers of geospatial information. Sectors include urban planning, local government, utilities, infrastructure, safety, security, environment, cultural heritage, public health, business, education and more. Initiative members are required to share their spatial data with one another to facilitate the use of geospatial data among government agencies and other stakeholders.

Rashed Al Mansoori, Director General of ADSIC said “Geographically based information gives us the means to better understand the world around us, plan effectively, and comprehensively make informed decisions, and carry out the results of those decisions in a coordinated and efficient way”. Commenting on the award he went on to say, “We are honored to receive the 2015 Smart Government Award, as it is a testament by the GIS community’s finest experts of our pioneering efforts in leading the implementation of standards, processes and policies, all of which have eased and facilitated implementation of GIS systems by our constituents.”

Jack Dangermond, Esri President who presented the award said, “Abu Dhabi’s SDI Initiative is a lighthouse example of what can be accomplished by a nation that recognizes the many benefits that can be derived through the cooperative use of geospatial information – I am very pleased to honour them with our first Smart Government award.”
GPC-GIS has supported ADSIC for the past seven years, starting with the inception of the AD-SDI Program and continuing through the entire lifecycle of implementation, institutionalization and adaptive management. Joseph Abdo, Lead Consultant on ADSIC Geospatial Programs said “such an award was testament to the vision of Abu Dhabi leadership in realizing the long-term sustainable and efficiency values that an SDI system offers – it’s a significant achievement to be internationally recognized by Esri as a pioneer in smart governance infrastructure building, and GPC has been honoured and proud to contribute to the community’s success.”

The event also recognized the achievements of a number of other Abu Dhabi government entities including; the Department of Transport DoT, who won first place in the Esri user application fair, a forum to share apps that is voted on by the Esri Community. The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) finished second place in this same fair – another client of GPC’s. Furthermore, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) won a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) award for their Tourism Dashboard. Finally, Al Hosn Gas also won the same award for their real-time gas monitoring dashboard.

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